Are smear tests genuinely meant to be just uncomfortable or are they painful?

[Badum]

I've only had 2 in my life and both were outright painful. Not shout out loud pain but past what I would describe as discomfort.

I keep seeing posts about people not finding them painful, some talking about discomfort etc. Is that genuinely how they feel for others or are they just being stoic?

I generally consider myself to have a good pain tolerance but am worried about the ivf process if Im finding something that's not meant to be painful painful. Its made me wonder if I have a tilted uterus or endo issues that actually i should be thinking about rather than just thinking it's normal

I’ve had a mixture. One that was practically nothing and I was like Is That It? And one that was very painful and she made me bleed. I don’t think women should say It’s Nothing because it really varies according to the woman and the person doing it

Personally I wouldn't describe them as either. I've never had any kind of pain.
I didn't enjoy my mammogram one bit though; I found that pretty uncomfortable. Opinions vary on those too.

Mine were not painful. I do have a tilted cervix and endometriosis. I had already had a child when I started having smears so I don't know if that played into it not being painful.

I’ve had three, and none were painful. The speculum was a bit cold, but that was all. I barely noticed anything else. Very experienced nurses every time.

I've always found smears a bit uncomfortable but not painful enough to discourage me.
Mammograms are a bit bruising but again, not really painful. I am small of boob so maybe that makes a difference.

I have a tilted pelvis and found the tests painful too until a nurse told me to make my hands into fists and put them under my lower back. She then did the smear while I held myself up with my fists and no more pain.

I have endo and have only had 2 pain free smear tests but I have never experienced painful sex even though it is one of the classic symptoms for endo.

My endo deposits are right where the top of the speculum pushes on when it is opened, hence why it hurts. I know where my deposits are from surgery.

I have only had one truly horrific one where I thought I was going to pass out but the other 15 or so were okay, painful but not enough to ever dissuade me from having them as I want a visual check of the cervix. I do get immediate cramping like period pain after every smear.

I have always found them uncomfortable, not painful. Tthe most expert one I had was at a Gynae Hospital by a consultant. It took two seconds and I didn't feel a thing. I was gobsmacked all the way back to the car.

I’ve had three really painful ones. I was really not looking forward to following one, told them I needed the extra length speculum (my cervix must be somewhere near my armpit as I’m very short!). It was completely pain free! The lady said she’d had loads of experience doing them, so it must have been that!

I had my first ever smear at my 6 weeks postpartum check and was expecting it to be excruciating. Barely felt it though!

i had one done years ago where they couldn’t get to where they needed and it was so painful - they asked me could the male doctor try - I said yes - he started from scratch and no pain at all. It’s the only pain free one I’ve ever had.

Ive had mixture. My last one barely felt it. She was so gentle.

I find them painful.

Bit uncomfortable, never reaching actual levels of pain despite having tilting.

I have always found them painful

It’s not painful for me. Uncomfortable is how I would describe it. I’ve had a lot of smears and two colposcopy’s and even the colposcopy’s were just a bit uncomfortable. I think it’s different for everyone. Mine just make me feel like I need to poo/trump.

Could just be a poor practitioner doing it badly! Smears are not meant to be painful but it's a skill like anything else. I had no problem in my life and then moved location and changed GP practices where smears became painful and protracted. The practice had one woman who did them. It was so bad that I wondered if I had some kind of medical issue like an undiagnosed condition or something. My next one was when the incompetent one was away and it was done by a much older and experienced nurse and it was like before.

That's when I realised the problem was the particular practitioner. I was lucky because I had a before and after experience that led me to work it out. I can see that anyone in that practice who had only ever had this woman would assume severe pain was the norm.

If you have a bad experience and it's out of the ordinary for you, definitely note the name of who did it and ask to see someone else next time.

If you've had a bad experience and it was painful, this doesn't help for the next one any way as it makes you tense up too.

It's uncomfortable for me, not painful. I have also been through ivf and would say the level of discomfort is similar. Egg collection you're under GA, embryo transfer is similar to a smear, but perhaps a bit longer in duration. Birth is of course a whole other level!

Mine have never been painful or uncomfortable.

I’ve never found them remotely uncomfortable or painful. I’ve had coils fitted and chatted the entire way through as it was so nothingy. I also had easy, pain free, drug free labours, so I might not be normal.

I have a hypotonic pelvic floor, and find smear tests intolerably painful and often simply not possible. I had to have my last one under general anaesthetic, as sedation didn’t work. I have decided I am just never going to do another since I am v low risk.

Mammograms, meanwhile, are a walk in the park for me.

We’re all different, and a lot of factors contribute to what feels painful.

Not painful for me at all.
I had a sweep with DC3 to try and get labour going, and I did find that painful.

The metal speculum hurt me, like a stinging sensation. The plastic ones they use now are much gentler

Do you have discomfort during sex?

Smear test attendance in the U.K. is low - see this research.

https://www.axahealth.co.uk/health-insurance/content/smear-test-statistics/

a big reason is because women are worried about it being painful and certainly in my experience it is painful,

i didn’t have one for over a decade because they just hurt.

so I think it’s likely that for a large minority of women they are painful, and quite likely that even those women who do get them experience some level of pain.